The gold smuggling case has been a political headache for the LDF government in Kerala. The State has been witness to some juicy developments in this regard ever since Swapna Suresh's identity came out a couple of weeks ago.

Days after Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan stated that Swapna Suresh's appointment to an agency under the Income Tax Department was made via a consultancy, senior IAS officer M Shivashankar has been suspended.

Reports have emerged that it was this IAS officer who had made a reference to appointing Swapna.

The babu's conduct allegedly violates the All India Service Conduct Rules, 1968.

Ever since his suspension, the headlines haven't been benign. "Kerala government on Thursday suspended senior IAS officer M Sivasankar over his alleged links with gold smuggling case," said the Indian Express.

A News18 report says that the Customs department did question the IAS officer for nine hours about the case. "The call records of Suresh and another accused, Sarith, showed that they made several calls to Shivashankar," it added.